Former Buffalo Bills player Darryl Talley at his home in Orlando on Thursday, May 20, 2004. Behind him on the wall is one of his Super Bowl jerseys (PHOTO BY JOHN RAOUX/ORLANDO SENTINEL)

The two biggest days of the NFL are upon us; Super Bowl XLV and the announcement of the 2011 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

We caught up with fan favorite Darryl Talley gave his take on the top five picks of this year’s class (and one bonus pick, DE Richard Dent, because I lost count). Out of a total of 17 finalists, the HOF selection committee picks anywhere from 4-7 athletes for induction. The 2011 Pro Football HOF class will be announced Saturday on the NFL Network.

Darryl Talley has one of the better perspectives on the 2011 HOF class considering he has competed against or with or during the same time period as 14 of the 16 athletes. One of the finalists, Ed Sabol, is the founder of NFL Films.

Talley competed from 1983-1996 making two Pro Bowl appearances, competed in four Super Bowls and led the franchise with 1,137 career tackles.

His top five picks are…

Andre Reed, WR, 1985-99 Buffalo Bills, 2000 Washington Redskins

“I’ve never seen anybody go across the middle and catch a football and run after a catch the way he did. I mean, when Jerry [Rice] got in, I thought it shouldn’t be long before Andre got in. Because for the simple reason [Hall of Fame Bills quarterback]Jim [Kelly] had to throw the football to somebody. He couldn’t hike it to himself, throw it to himself and run it into the endzone,” Talley said with a chuckle.

“He ran exceptionally hard. He ran harder than what most people thought he did. The thing about Curtis Martin is he was a student of the game, he knew what he could do well and what he couldn’t do well. And what he couldn’t do well, he worked really hard at and you have to appreciate that.”

Dermontti Dawson, C, 1988-2000 Pittsburgh Steelers

“He was one of the first centers to be able to snap the ball and pull on the sweep. I mean the only other one that dared to do that was Dwight Stevenson. He would snap the ball in between his legs and beat you to the corner. So yeah, I really think Dermontti is a really, really great center.”

Chris Hanburger, Linebacker, 1965-78 Washington Redskins

“I think he deserves to go in because when you think about the over-the-hill gang, the first person that comes to mind, at least to me, is Chris Hanburger. Because he was the guy that had to play on third down. He was the guy that did a lot of the things I did and I looked at him and thought this guy’s really got everything together, he’s the total package. He can play the run, he can play the pass and he was an undersized linebacker that did it.”

So who do you believe will be inducted into the 2011 Pro Football Hall of Fame class?